Germans eye constitutional revival

The German presidency is optimistic about the chances of reviving the EU constitution following the first round of consultations with national governments in Berlin, according to Union diplomats. But the talks highlighted that getting agreement on emphasising the EU’s social side and including a reference to Europe’s Christian heritage will be difficult.

The round of discussions with governments’ senior diplomatic advisers, or sherpas, finished on Friday (2 February). Diplomats said that the outcome of the discussions was support for a German proposal for the Berlin Declaration on the future of the EU, marking the Union’s 50th anniversary, to cover at least three themes: recognition of the EU’s historic achievements, a statement of its common values and common objectives (including dealing with issues such as globalisation, climate change and energy security). But a fourth element stating the need to agree a new round of institutional reforms is proving difficult as some member states, including the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic believe there is no urgency for new treaty changes or do not support maintaining the existing constitution.

The Czech government’s sherpa, centre-right MEP Jan Zahradil, has refuted suggestions that Prague was proving one of the most difficult member states in the negotiations. "This is pure media simplification," he said, adding: "Nobody wants to block anything." He said that the newly formed Czech government wanted to play a "positive, constructive role" in the negotiations. The constitution had been rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 and so its text needed to be revised. Zahradil said that "a simplified treaty or basic treaty" was needed and the Czech government was ready to contribute to the process.

Diplomats said that pressure from the Polish government for a reference to the EU’s Christian heritage was also controversial. Such a reference was left out of the constitution following objections from countries with a strong secular tradition like France and Belgium. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is sympathetic to the idea.

The German presidency has not yet presented a text and may not do so until the European Council on 8-9 March because of fears about leaks.

• Last Friday (2 February) the three Dutch parties likely to form a coalition government (centre-right CDA, Socialist PvdA and Christian Christunie) agreed that the decision on whether to hold a second referendum on a new constitution text would be taken by the Council of State, an advisory constitutional body.

• French centre-right MEP Alain Lamassoure, EU affairs adviser to centre-right presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Tuesday (6 February) that he no longer favoured a ‘mini-treaty’, which kept only the institutional innovations of the constitution (an EU foreign minister, long-term Council president, etc). "None of our European friends liked it apart from the British, which made us suspicious," Lamassoure told a debate on France and the EU. Sarkozy wanted an "ordinary treaty" which did not need to be put to a second referendum vote in France, Lamassoure said.

Sherpas on the EU constitution

Country: Representing head of government, state/Representing foreign ministry

• Germany: Uwe Corsepius/R Silberberg

• France: Laurent Vigier/Catherine Colonna

• Italy: Renato Ruggiero/Stefano Sanino

• UK: Kim Darroch/Nicola Brewer

• Spain: Carles Casajuana/Alberto Navarro

• Poland: Marek Cichoki/Ewa Osniecka-Tamecka

• Czech Republic: Jan Zahradil

• Hungary: Zoltán Gál/Gábor Iván

• Estonia: Gert Antsu/Kaja Tael

• Lithuania: Zygimantas Pavilionis

• Latvia: Peteris Ustubs/Normunds Popens

• Ireland: Eoin O’Leary/Dan Mulhall

• Portugal: Jorge Rosa de Oliveira/Manuel Lobo AntunesNuno Brito*

• Greece: Konstantinos Bitsios/Thrassyvoulos Stamatopoulos

• Luxembourg: Sandra Thein/Arlette Conzemius*

• Netherlands: Jan Versteeg/Ian de Jong

• Belgium: Chris Hoornaert/Xavier Demoulin

• Austria: Wolfgang Wrabetz/Thomas Oberreiter

• Romania: Calin Fabian*/Adrian Vierita*

• Bulgaria: Filip Bokov*/Valentin Radomirski*

• Sweden: Nicola Clase/Thorbjörn Haak

• Denmark: Erik Vilstrup Lorenzen/Michael Zilmer-Johns

• Finland: Jukka SalovaaraHelena Tuuri*/Kare Halonen*

• Cyprus: Marios Lyssotis*

• Malta: Richard Cachia Caruana/Cecilia Attard Pirotta

• Slovakia: Pavol Hamzik/Olga Algayerova

• Slovenia: Janez Lenarcic

• Commission: João Vale de Almeida/Christian Leffler

• Parliament: Klaus Welle/José Luis Pacheco*

* To be confirmed

The German presidency is optimistic about the chances of reviving the EU constitution following the first round of consultations with national governments in Berlin, according to Union diplomats. But the talks highlighted that getting agreement on emphasising the EU’s social side and including a reference to Europe’s Christian heritage will be difficult.